Superconducting microbridges are of great interest for application in superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUID). To date, however, these weak link elements have exhibited certain shortcomings which have limited their utility. The microbridges are extremely sensitive to minute electrical noises and can be destroyed by minute currents at room temperature. Unprotected microbridges can even be destroyed by electrostatic discharge when handed from one person to another. Heretofore, these weak link devices have been provided with copper wire shunts and/or current limiting series resistors to protect the devices at room temperatures. Furthermore, the temperature range of operation of these microbridges is limited by self-heating effects. These problems are especially prevalent in "Josephson junctions" of the constriction type microbridge junction due to the extremely thin construction of the superconductive film layers and the constricted bridge connecting the two layers.